Today I want to look at what you think about God. Why do you think about God the way you do? Many people think of God as an Old Testament angry God who is just waiting to punish them for anything they do. Some people think God is keeping a tab on their good things and bad things and will weigh them up against each other before he makes a decision about them, whether they are acceptable to him or not. Do you think of God being like that? Is he an old man with a white beard permanently angry? Do you think God has forgotten you? You could not be further from the truth if that is what you are thinking. I was taught that when I gave my heart to God (got saved) I then had to work at keeping myself pure for him. Did you have to do that too? When I got something wrong or did something wrong I was made to feel that I had let God down. I then had to try extra hard to please him to get back into his good books again (so to speak). Does this sound familiar to you? God did not create you to beat you up - he is not a man nor is he a woman. God is beyond our human comprehension yet he is real and we are not beyond his comprehension because he made each one of us.
There is a scripture in the bible that defines God exactly: 1 JOHN 4 VERSES 7 & 8: 7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. You see it does not say God is like love. Nor does it say God is lovely. When you look at a pot roast you say - that is a pot roast, right? Well, God is love, and when you look at him you see love. That is how it is supposed to be. Now, take into consideration our humanness - the word love is taken to mean sex as in let’s make love! Or, you could say you love those flowers, you love your pet, you love your children but each time it means something different. If you love those flowers, you know if they are in a vase they are dying and you will throw them out eventually. So the love is fleeting. How we use the word love is not how God intended us to use it. God IS love. I cannot explain this but I know it to be true. God is not angry - he is love. We are encouraged to love one another because love is of God, and everyone who lies is born of God, and knows God. If you do not love then you do not know God. His love is pure like the refiners fire refining the silver or gold, burning all the rubbish out of our hearts and making us pure just like him.
As you think about how you have been rejected or hurt and the situation you have come out of, please know that God is still loving you. If you cannot feel it or know it then it is because you have turned away from him. Please consider turning back to him. He is desperate to have a relationship with you again, or even for the first time. What are your thoughts about God now? He created the universe, the world and everything in the world before he created mankind. Have you ever wondered why? He prepared the whole universe, the whole world for mankind to be able to live on it. We were given our very own world to live in and on. He wanted us to have everything we would ever need.
Because he is love and he loves us totally and unconditionally he provided everything for us that we would ever need. From the oxygen we breathe, the plants that generate oxygen, the food we eat, the sun, the moon and the stars - everything - just for us. When a family are expecting the arrival of a new born baby, they prepare the room for it, the cot, and the clothes. They make sure everything is safe, ready and comfortable for it’s arrival. That is how God looks at mankind. When he decided there would be mankind he prepared the world, made it safe, ready and comfortable for us. The difference between bringing home a new born baby and what God did was this: a new born baby does not have the capacity to make decisions or talk or walk, so the parents have to do everything for it to help it grow. God made mankind as adults so he could converse with them, they could enjoy each other and his company. They could already walk and make decisions. To that end he gave them free will to choose. This is the thing, the one thing that makes us different from animals, from babies, from birds and fish. We can choose, which means we can reason, we can discuss and we can make up our own minds.
When you decide or choose to follow Jesus it all depends on who is leading you and teaching you as to whether you are able succeed in your walk with Jesus. Here are some things I have learned over the years.
Alarms should go off inside of you if any of the following happen:
When we are told we have now got to do this or that to stay in God’s good books!
If we cannot ask questions on the sermon or the scriptures!
If we are forced to give being told something bad is going to happen if we don’t obey.
If we are told we have to submit to the pastor and not question him or her.
When we are told we will lose out salvation if ——— you fill in the blanks.
When we are told that our sin is too bad for God to forgive.
When we are excluded from church without explanation or the opportunity to discuss whatever happened.
These are only a few things.
I am not saying you have done anything wrong, but even if you have, God has already forgiven you in Jesus when he was crucified. You do not have to do penance or pay money or crawl on the floor. You do not have to be punished by the church, the leaders or pastor. When we do something that we think might be wrong we can turn to God and apologise. We can confess to him what we have done, we can say thank you for your forgiveness that you have already provided. Then you can ask him to help you live as he wants you to because you realise you need him.
Personal testimony
I have been married three times. I have likened myself to the woman at the well who had 5 husbands and the one she was living with when Jesus met her was not her husband. My first marriage produced by two sons, but I had a mental breakdown and my actions ruined the marriage. I sabotaged it because I irrationally thought my husband would not want me any more. We divorced. My second husband had a secret life I knew nothing about until after we were married so I looked else where and committed adultery. Because of the children from my first marriage I threw my second husband out as he was not willing to change his ways. All of these things affected my health and my mental well-being. I make no apology for my testimony because it has been a learning field for me. My third marriage was the one I thought would last until death would cause us to part. My husband decided he wanted his freedom after 32 years together. I was disabled and he had an affair and said he wanted his freedom. My walk with God was tested tremendously in the last few years we were together. After much prayer, God made it clear to me that I couldn’t be reconciled to my husband if he did not want to be reconciled to me. I asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted his freedom - I gave him what he wanted. God was with me all through those years and was protecting me and keeping me safe. My sons are good men, and they each have two sons. Have learned that God has to be first in everything because when he is first everything world together for my good. I could have become bitter and angry with my husband, but I forgave him almost as soon as he asked for his freedom. I did this because I knew I would not be able to live inner, frustration and bitterness. It freed me from those things. I never said I did not love my husband - I probably still do. I gave him what he wanted at the expense of our 32 years together. I see him often when he brings our dog to visit. There is no hatred, no animosity, no fear, no negativity towards him at all. Since our divorce I have studied marriage, God’s way of marriage and can see where I have not treated my husband as I should have, as well as seen how he had not treated me as I should have been. A break-up is never one-sided. I was as much to blame as he was. I took that to God and confessed that I had not been a particularly Godly wife and thanked him for his forgiveness.
I shared that short testimony with you to show you that I are had my ups and downs in life, but all the way through it God protected me, even when I was the one who did wrong.
People rejected me. People scorned me and spoke about me in bad ways. People whispered in church and made me feel very unwelcome. People avoided me. People were unkind to me. But - The point is this : God never rejected me, no matter what I did. When I turned around he was there waiting for me, and I ran to him and he accepted me. He wiped away the tears, he showed me his compassion and provision. He truly is love. I cannot describe him as anything else. God is love.
I am living proof of that.
As these conversations go on, I will share other parts of my personal testimony, in the hope that you will see that whatever it is you think you have done it is not going to change Gods heart towards you. He still loves you. This is all about relationship with God. God and you - you and God and nothing else. Come back to God and talk to me.
Father God I pray that whoever reads these blogs will turn to you and be healed from all that has hurt them. I pray for reconciliation between God and the person reading these words. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, your only begotten Son. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment